Former President Barack Obama attended Poland’s Impact 2025 business and technology conference on Thursday evening, coming just days ahead of the country’s election.
During his conversation with American historian Timothy Snyder, Obama spoke on the "dangers posed by far-right radicalism" and praised Poland’s 2023 centrist alliance for how it engaged with conservative rural communities, per Polish Radio. He stressed the importance of listening to adversaries, like Russian President Vladimir Putin, as a key in preventing conflicts.
Speaking on Poland’s role in the conflict between neighboring Ukraine and Russia, Obama said, "When Americans see the incredible generosity shown by Poland to those fleeing war, it gives them hope. This moment teaches us that progress in democracy, human rights, and all these great efforts cannot be the work of the United States alone."
He also stressed that Europeans have to recognize that they can’t "simply rely on the United States for their defence." He added, "Support from the United States is not automatic."
Poland’s presidential election will take place on Sunday. Per Politico’s aggregation of polling as of Friday, Rafał Trzaskowski is in the lead with 31 percent, followed by Karol Nawrocki with 26 percent, and Sławomir Mentzen at 12 percent.
Trzaskowski is the mayor of Warsaw and is a liberal candidate for the Civic Platform party. Nawrocki is a conservative candidate representing Poland’s Law and Justice party. Mentzen is also a conservative candidate representing the country’s Confederation party.
